Ram.



No. 697,303. Patented Apr. 8, I902.

C. C. WENT'WORTH.

RAM.

(Application filed June 11, 1901.)

3 Sheets-Sheet l.

(N0 Modal.)

N V EN TOR (Zarkfi (ffirzkdarii W/ 7N E SSE S ATTORNEYS w: Noam: PETERSpnoruumo. msnmsToN. DJC

No. 697,303. Patented Apr. 8, I902.

C. G. WENTWDRTH.

RAM.

(Application filed June 11, 1901.) (80 Model.) 3.Sheets$heet 2.

59 /77- v Lil II 1| 7 A 4 WITNESSES: v ,NVENTOH ('arka 6! fiiii wariizF4917 By I ATTOI? No. 697,303. Patented Apr. 8. I902.

C. C. WENTWORTH.

RAM.

{Application filed. June 11, 1901.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets$heet 3.

| "I!" I lllllllllllll/A I 22 J8 WITNESSES: IN VENTOl-Y A TTOHNE Y8llnirrno Sterne PATENT ()FFIGE.

CHARLES C. WENTlVORTH, OF ROANOKE, VIRGINIA.

RAM.

SEEGIFIGATION forming part of- Letters Patent No. 697,303, dated April8, 1902.

Application filed June 11 1901. Serial No. 64,069. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it 77mg concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. WENT- WORTH, a citizen of the Uni-tedStates, and a resident of Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke and State ofVirginia, have invented a new and Improved Hydraulic Ram, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in hydraulic rams; and the objectis to provide a ram for high duty and for pumpingin large quantities, asneeded for supplying railroad Water-tanks, small towns, and the like.

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of a ram embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, partly in section. Fig. 3 isan elevation showing the waste-valve connections. Fig. 4 is a section onthe line at [c of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation on the line 2z in Fig. 2 of a quick-acting relief-valve employed. Fig. 6 is a sectionon the line 311 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is ageneral view showing the ramconnections. Fig. 8 is an enlarged vertical section taken through thewaste-valve and its stem. Fig. 9 is an enlarged vertical section takenthrough the airsupply pipe for the air-dome, and Fig. 10 is a detail ofthe waste-valve.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 7, l designates the drive-pipe, and atone end of this drive-pipe I have shown a stand-pipe 2, which furnishesthe head or pressure for the operation of the ram. This stand-pipe isfilled from an elevated source of supply through the inclined pipe andthe valve 3. The drivepipe leads into the base-casing 4 of the ram, uponwhich is a receiving-casing 5, surmounted by an air-dome 6. Arranged inthe wall separating the casing 4 from the casing 5 are spidervalve-seats 7, Fig. 4, with which upwardly-opening valves 8 engage, andleading from the casing 5 to the receiving-tank 9 is a pipelO.(ShowninFig.2.) ThevalvesSshould be made as light as possible. Forinstance, they may be made of hard rubber, because the relatively smallweight of this material enables it to respond more quickly to theactuating force, and thus less water escapes back into the casing 4.Furthermore, I employ a large number of small valves 8 in preference toa small number of large valves, because as the outlet is on thecircumference only there is a greater circumferential measurement in theaggregate of the small valves, and the vertical motion of each valve islessened, and the time taken to close and the water loss are thereforeless.

Each valve 8 is mounted to move on a stud or bolt 11, which engages inan interiorlythreaded socket 12 in the valve-seat, and the valve is heldyieldingly on its seat by means of a spring 13, engaging at its lowerend with the valve and at its upper end with the head of the bolt.

The casing 5 is extended horizontally to a much larger area than usual,so as to accommodate the large number of valves, and its top wall isprovided with openings, which are normally closed by one or more covers14. By removing these covers access may be had to the interior of thecasing, when desired, to regulate or clean the valves. In front of thecasing 5 is a waste-spout 15, which communicates with the interior ofthe casing 4 through concentric rows of segmental openings or ports 16and 17, Figs. 1 and 2. These openings or ports should have an areaconsiderably in excess of the area of the drive-pipe, and they arecontrolled by a subjacent wastevalve 18. This valve 18 should be made aslight as is practicable, and the vertical movement of the valve shouldbe as short as possible; otherwise its velocity and consequent impact onclosing will be such as to wear away the surfaces. To overcome this inordinary rams, a thick rubber disk is put on the top of the valve, whichcontinually wears out, with consequent expense and stoppage, besides theloss of effect due to the work done in compressing the rubber. Theseobjections are overcome by my construction and arrangement of the valve,as it will be noted that instead of opening only on the outer periphery,as in ordinary ram-valves, my valve is (see Fig. 10) made of spider formor is perforated with concentric segmental openings about the hub anddischarges on three concentric circular lines parallel to the lines ofthe openings above, so that the water issues around the outer edge ofthe valve to the openings 16, also through the openings in the valve toopenings 16, and also through the openings in the valve to the centralopening 17. This reduces the vertical motion fifty per cent.,

thus reducing by one-half the work needed to lift the weight of thevalve, and the parallelism of the segmental openings in the valve andthe plate above permits of accurate computation of the discharge.

The hub portion 19 of the valve 18 is made cup-shaped (see Figs. 1 and8) to receive the end of an impact-rod 20, and arranged between a headon the lower end of this rod within the hub and a cover 21 for the hubis a spring 22, which is given a considerable initial compression bymeans of said cap or cover 21. This spring 22, in connection with thehead of the rod 20, holds the valve 18 on a practically horizontal planeand at right angles to the rod, but at the same time admits of a smalltilting deviation in case a solid particle is caught between the valveand its seat on one side of' the center. Transverse strains on the shaftor stem 20 are by this means avoided. The space around the spring isdesigned to be filled with thick grease or tar to prevent the entranceof water.

A vertical frame 23 is mounted on the outlet-spout 15, and the rod 20passes up through hearings in cross-bars of said frame. Arranged in thetop cross-bar of the frame is an adjustable abutment 24, shown in theform of a screw, and said rod passes through an exteriorly-threadedsleeve 25, vertically adjustable in the center crossbar. Below thissleeve the rod passes through a bearing 26, and to prevent a rotarymovement of the rod, and consequently preventing a rotary movement ordisplacement of the valve 18, there is a feather-and-groove connectionbetween the bearing 26 and the rod.

Arranged on the upper end of the rod 20 and resting on a collar 27 onsaid rod is a spring 28, forming a cushion for engaging with theabutment 24. This spring 28 needs no initial compression, as it is madequite strong. It does not constantly fill the space between the top ofthe rod 20 and the bottom of the abutment-screw, but is entirely out ofcontact with said abutment-screw when the valve 18 is down, as in Fig.8, and only comes in contact with the abutment-screw during the lastportion of the upward movement of the valve and rod, as in Fig. 3. Itshould on the compression from the free state by an amount, say,oneeighth of an inch, (being the last part of the upward movement of therod 20,) exert a resistance sufficient to depress and open valve 18 inthe normal action of the ram. There is therefore practically no workdone bythe water in compressing the spring 28, the upward momentum ofthe valve doing the work. This secures the economical use of thewater-power and also results in the safe and easy seating of the valve.The screw or abutment 24 fixes the point at which the contact of thespring 28 with the abutment-screw begins. It will be seen, therefore,that in my ram the waste-valve has a free and unobstructed initial risein closing, and the opening-springis put under a resilient tension onlyby the last part of the movement of the valve in closing.

Arranged between the collar 27 and abutting against a shoulder in thesleeve is a stout spring 29, which cushions the valve 18 against jarorstrain when it reaches its lowermost point.

In the adjustment of the tension of the opening-spring 28 for the valveit is not made strong enough to open said valve at the start, but onlystrong enough to open it when aided by the temporary backlash of waterin the drive-pipe in the normal action of the ram. To start the valve 18to open when the ram is first put in action, I employ a starting-valvewhich temporarily relieves the pressure of water in the drive-pipe orsubjacent chamber of the ram. It is in the nature of a quickopeningvalve controlling communication between the casing4 and spout 15. (SeeFigs. 1, 5, and 6.) A valve 31 is mounted to rotate below a seat 32, thevalve being provided with a port or a series of ports, as is also thevalve-seat, clearly indicated in Fig. 6. The valve-seat 32 isscrew-threaded into a sleeve 33, on the lower portion of which is a yoke34, in which is a step-bearing, here shown as an adjustable screw 35 forthe stem 36 of the valve, this stem being extended through an opening inthe valve-seat. The stem extends upward through a plate 15 on the top ofthe spout 15 and is provided with an eye 37, in which a bar or otherdevice may be inserted for turning the valve, and a pointer 38 on thestem will indicate the position of the valvethat is, whether open orclosed. When the valve is suddenly turned to open position, it releasesthe pressure in the casing 4 sufficiently to allow the spring 28 to openthe valve 18. This releaseof pressure is momentary, but sufficient inconnection with the spring 28 to effect its purpose. After the ramstarts into action the startingvalve is closed, as the alternatebacklash in the drive-pipe and subjacent chamber 4 at every movement ofthe air-dome valves is sufficient to aid spring 28 in continuing toperform the proper opening of the main wastevalve 18.

I will now describe means for automatically supplying air to maintainthe air-cushion in the top of air-dome 6, reference being had to Figs. 1and 9. For this purpose communication is provided between the interiorof the casing 4 and the interior of the upper portion of the air-dome bymeans of a pipe 39, in which is arranged an air-inlet valve 40 and aglass sight-tube 41, into which a nipple 42 extends at the bottom, andin the upper portion of the pipe 39 is a relief-valve 43.

The air-valve 40 and relief-valve 43 are in the nature of simplestop-cocks, which may be opened or closed at will. In the stop-cockbranch of air-valve 40 is an inwardly-opening check-valve a. Above itand below the nozzle is another one, 6, and above this and between therelief-valve 4:3 and the air-dome is another inwardly-openingcheck-valve 0. Now it will be remembered that there is in the normalaction of the ram alternately a high pressure and then a reducedpressure and backlash in the drivepipe and snbjacent chamber of the ram,due to the action of the air-dome valves, and as the lower part of pipe39 is in open communication with the subjacent chamber 4 the water-levelZ, Fig. 9,

in stand-pipe 39 will alternately rise and fall to suit thesefluctuations of pressure. WVhen said level Z falls, valve 1) closes andvalve a opens and air is sucked in through air-inlet 40. \Vhen the levelZ rises, it forces the air up, closing valve a and opening valves 1) andc, and the air rising through nozzle 42 is visible through the glasssight-tube 4:1 and passes into the air-dome. The air-inletO is above theline of backwater, and hence never becomes water-logged.

\Vith regard to the function and value of nozzle 42 I would state thatevery one knows that it takes a considerable time for air to rise out ofa bottle under water and also for the water to get into the bottle toreplace the air.

Consequently by making the aperture in the nozzle at? small, like theneck of a bottle, I am assured of some air being in or under theaperture at the completion of each stroke, which will not have time toget away before another stroke. Therefore the action of the water in thevertical pipe and the action of the valve just below the nozzle will notbe impeded by the inertia of the water above it, having only to furthercompress this small amount of air, which finally reaches a tension thatinsures its passage to the air-chamber. This space below nozzle 42 actsas an air-chamber to the vertical drive-pipe. The smallness of theaperture in nozzle 42 prevents the air that is drawn in by the weight ofwater in the Vertical pipe from rising instantly to the top of the glasstube, but leaves the air in such position that it may be acted on asdescribed. It also keeps the water in the glass tube from running out.If the water all ran out of the glass tube, its purpose would bedestroyed-namely, that of allowing the operator to estimate how much airwas entering. If too much air entered the dome, the efficiency of themachine as a water-pump would be impaired.

The use of relief-cock 43. is to allow all the piping below it to beforcibly cleared of any obstruction. Open this cock and all below it isat each stroke cleaned and the glass tube filled with water. This makesthis mechanism perfectly under control of the operator.

To indicate the height of water in the chamher under the air-dome, awater-gage is tapped into the same, as seen on the left of Fig. 1.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a hydraulic ram, the combination with the air-dome, and thedrive-pipe, of an automatic air-supply for the air-dome, consisting of astand-pipe having its lower end in open communication with thedrive-pipe and its upper end opening into the air-dome, said stand-pipehaving an inwardly-opening airvalve intermediate its length, and havingabove said air-valve a nozzle a glass sight-tube and one or morecheck-valves opening upwardly into the air-dome, substantially as andfor the purposes described.

2. In ahydraulic ram, the combination with the air-dome and thedrive-pipe, of an automatic air-supply for the air-dome consisting of astand-pipe having its lower end in open communication with thedrive-pipe and its upper end opening into the air-dome, said stand-pipehaving an inwardly-opening airvalve intermediate its length, acheck-valve and nozzle with sight-tube above the air-valve and at ahigher point a relief-valve and a sec through which said rod passes, acollar onthe rod above the sleeve, a spring arranged be-' tween saidcollar and the sleeve, a spring on the rod above the collar, and anadjustable abutment in the frame with which said lastnamed spring isdesigned to engage, substantially as specified.

5. In a ram, a spout arrangedon the receiving-casing and having portscommunicating therewith, a valve for controllingsaid ports and asupplemental quick-opening valve hav inga rodextended upward from thesame, and a pointer on said rod above thespout, substantially asspecified.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in thetwo subscribing witnesses. i

CHARLES C. WENTWORTH.

Witnesses:

LAwRENoE S. DAVIS, W. L. Aunnuws.

presence of

